An Essay on the Changes in Globalization due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Image Source: EUMETSAT via Wikimedia Commons

The unexpected economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was more devastating than the 2008–2009 financial crisis. This led to skepticism about globalization. With unemployment levels increasing in the United States, we are facing a global recession.

Globalization has been affected, with goods and services being exported and imported into the US (Toulan, 2020) in a negative manner. This drop was exacerbated by governments seeking to protect their own by creating policies to help people gain employment, often at the expense of trade (Toulan, 2020), raising questions of accountability.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down, anti-globalization sentiment began to emerge among Republicans and some Democrats. This was further exacerbated with the election of Donald Trump in November 2016. His campaign was deemed hostile to international trade, immigration, and investment (Frieden and Lake 2021, pg. 36). Similar backlash followed suit in the United Kingdom with Brexit in June of 2016. In the European Union, it took the form of left-wing opposition to measures affected by the Eurozone’s debt crisis (Frieden and Lake 2021, pg. 36) and hostility on the right. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, it disrupted global supply chains that previously united the world’s economies (Frieden and Lake 2021, pg. 38), raising questions about the future of globalization. It does no good in times of economic crisis and disease epidemics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to problems in managing common interests. There were different national responses to its spread, which allowed for some experimentation to determine which policies were and weren’t effective (Frieden and Lake 2021, pg. 663). As pharmaceutical companies competed for vaccines in the market, it became clear that any response would need support from almost all countries. Unfortunately, not all countries managed the pandemic because most didn’t have the power to promote safe behaviors, acquire PPE (personal protective equipment) for first responders, and set up hospitals to treat those infected by the virus (Frieden and Lake 2021, pg. 664). To resolve this, developed countries in the West purchased many vaccine doses, leaving developing countries unable to secure them. Even the WTO (World Trade Organization) was unable to reach an agreement on waiving global patent laws to produce COVID-19 vaccines (Kavanagh, 2024). This means that the global governance of vaccines and intellectual property is not the WTO’s responsibility. During negotiations in Geneva, some negotiators wanted the world’s health ministers and the WHO to address intellectual property, but the US and others said that these questions were for the WTO to answer on its own (Kavanagh, 2024). Their failure meant that they were unable to act in a pandemic to remove barriers to patents and allow sharing of vaccines; the WHO had to step in and do it.

Many countries found that dislocations limited their ability to access medical equipment (Frieden and Lake 2021, pg. 38), and it interfered with production inputs. Although many international institutions survived it, questions arose about the extent to which countries were closer to the global economy. During the first term of Donald Trump, his administration expressed doubts about America’s international trade and investment ties. Joe Biden’s administration didn’t care much about new trade/investment policy initiatives (Frieden and Lake 2021, pg. 39), demonstrating a lack of accountability with trade decisions.

The US is not the only country to express sentiment about trade. Russia has even shown little interest in reopening its borders for trade and investment. Other European countries had political movements that were opposed to integration into the EU. Additionally, there is concern that international economic trends pose a threat to social and environmental goals (Frieden and Lake 2021, pg. 39). Growth in developing countries challenges the Earth’s power to keep pace with cities, automobiles, and industries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected domestic and international travel. Hotels and restaurants, a staple of the hospitality sector, were hit, with some temporarily closing or going out of business due to a lack of customers. Some people would go on long road trips/campouts due to soaring hotel and motel costs. Vacation resorts closed down and invested in upgrades; it is known that islands get their revenue from tourism, and without it, there would be fewer tourists.

Safety measures like lockdowns, public transport shutdowns, and closure of borders drastically affected greenhouse gas emissions (Savin and de Artaza, 2024), which led people to change their travel habits. Countries even set up travel restrictions, RT-PCR tests, and quarantine measures to halt the spread of COVID. In fact, 90% of travel fell from mid-March to May 2020. In the UK, a 2022 survey found that Brits were willing to reduce their flights by 26% and car consumption by 30%.

Following the pandemic, many Europeans flew more often, while the strictness of COVID-19 measures varied between countries (Savin and de Artaza, 2024). Countries with high fatalities, like Italy and France, had strict lockdowns, while others, like Sweden, Hungary, Latvia, and the Netherlands, had less strict measures. In countries with stricter measures, they saw a rebound effect in airplane usage and rail transport (Savin and de Artaza, 2024). This was due to international tourists desiring them, along with citizens desiring travel in those countries. The countries that had fewer restrictions saw a return to normal levels of gas consumption, while people began to travel domestically due to international travel not being possible.

A highway sign in Toronto during the pandemic in March 2020. Photo by EelamStyleZ.

Looking back, the new normal could make travel more expensive with safety restrictions in place. Since more people are willing to travel again, many people have invested in travel insurance. Unfortunately, some policies don’t cover COVID-related expenses.

Works Cited:

Frieden, Jeffry A. et al. World Politics: Interests, Interactions, Institutions, Fifth Edition. W.W. Norton, 2021, pg. 38–664.

Kavanagh, Matthew M. “The WTO Failed the World in Covid.” Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, 28 Feb. 2024, foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/28/wto-covid-pandemic-treaty-vaccines-patents-intellectual-property/.

Savin, Ivan, and Helena Patiño de Aryana. “Fewer Car Journeys and More Flights: How Covid-19 Has Changed the Way We Travel.” The Conversation, 8 Aug. 2024, theconversation.com/fewer-car-journeys-and-more-flights-how-covid-19-has-changed-the-way-we-travel-235704.

Toulan, Omar. “Globalization after COVID-19: What’s in Store?” IMD, 8 Aug. 2023, www.imd.org/research-knowledge/strategy/articles/globalization-after-covid-19-whats-in-store/.

Author’s note: This article is adapted from an essay I had written for a course at Rutgers University during the summer of 2024.